BILL GERTZ: Trump Leaning Against Extending Arms Treaty. “Moscow’s new weapons violate New START, INF treaties, undermine arms control.”

Among the options being considered are withdrawing from New START; re-negotiating inspection and verification provisions as part of treaty extension; or adopting a more limited and simple agreement similar to the 2002 Moscow Treaty that called for significant reductions in strategic offensive arms.

“Among issues to consider will be Russia’s decision to manufacture compliance issues regarding U.S. weapons, and the uncertainty of whether or not Russia’s recently announced strategic nuclear weapons will be held accountable under the treaty,” Thompson explained in her prepared testimony.

In response to U.S. questioning of Russian treaty violations, Moscow has responded with disinformation and false counter charges of U.S. noncompliance.

“Russia’s response to each of these situations is to employ its standard playbook of distraction, misinformation, and counter-accusations,” Thompson said.

David Trachtenberg, deputy undersecretary of defense for policy, also said extension of New START is uncertain.

“Any decision on extending the treaty will, and should be, based on a realistic assessment of whether the New START treaty remains in our national security interests in light of overall Russian arms control behavior,” Trachtenberg testified.

New START had some good provisions, which by and large are the ones Moscow has stopped abiding.